Tag Archives: bowl topping

A Living Tiny KBB Yello-Bole Salesman’s Pipe

Blog by Steve Laug

I have always been fascinated with miniature copies of larger items. When my daughters were younger we used to buy them brass miniature stoves and household items that were surprisingly real. All of them had working parts and were small copies of the larger counterparts. I found out that Salesmen’s samples were similar to these items I bought my daughters. They were a common item in the early 20th century. Salesmen needed a smaller version of their product to show off to retailers, and retailers in turn needed a way to demonstrate the features of larger items, which might need to be ordered from the manufacturer, to their customers. Many salesmen’s samples were highly detailed, with additional marketing copy pointing out important features of the product. http://www.collectorsweekly.com/advertising/salesmans-samples I have cleaned up a few tiny salesmen’s pipes over the years that were working models of larger pipes. They have all been smokeable.

Today I worked on one that came in my brother’s box of pipes. It is stamped KBB in a cloverleaf and next to that Yello-Bole over Imported Briar. The stem is vulcanite and the pipe bowl is briar. It had been smoked and there was a light cake in the bowl.None of the reamers that my brother had would fit the tiny bowl of the pipe. My little finger is still too big to fit into the bowl. The bowl had a light cake in it and the rim was damaged both with tars and with dents from tapping the pipe out. The stem was lightly oxidized and there were tooth marks and chatter on the top and the bottom sides near the button. The finish on the bowl sides was peeling and flaky. The pipe was tiny but well used. I took the next four photos to show what the pipe looked like when I started to work on it. I put the pipe next to the seashell that I have been using for all my photos to give an idea of its diminutive size. I reamed the bowl with the Savinelli Pipe Knife but forgot to take photos of it before and after. When I took the stem off the pipe it had the standard Yello-Bole shovel like stinger. It was pressure fit in the tenon. The tenon on this tiny pipe was metal which was different from previous Yello-Bole Salesmen’s pipes I have refurbished.I carefully removed the stinger from the tenon with a pair of pliers. While the pipe was apart I cleaned out the shank and the airway in the shank and the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol.I cleaned the spoon shaped stinger with a brass bristle wire brush, cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. Once it was clean and the stem was clean I pushed it back in place in the shank.I took off the peeling varnish coat on the bowl with acetone and cotton pads. It did not take a lot of scrubbing to take off all of the finish. The acetone took off the varnish coat and some of the opaque stain on the bowl. Once it was gone I could see some nice grain showing through. The cotton pads give an idea of how small this pipe is. I sanded the bowl with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads to even out the finish and smooth out some of the dings and dents on the briar. There was a dark spot on the bottom of the shank where it joined the bowl that appeared to be a burned area. I sanded it and was able to remove most of it. Each successive grit of micromesh sanding pad brought more shine to the surface of the briar. By the end of the progression, the 12000 grit pad the bowl had a shine to it that looked really good and showed off the nice grain on the bowl. I sanded out the tooth chatter with 220 grit sandpaper and then wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded the stem with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each set of three pads. I set the stem aside to dry after sanding it with the 12000 grit pad. I put the stem on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. The polish made the bowl and the stem shine. I was careful around the stamping so as not to damage it. I gave the pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. To give an idea of the size of the pipe I took the photos with a Canadian dime or 10 cent piece next to it. The Canadian dime is the same size as the American dime. Thanks for looking.

Kaywoodie Connoisseur 49 Large Oom Paul

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Blog by Andrew Selking

It is an honor to once again write an article for Steve’s blog. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Andrew and a bit obsessive about Kaywoodie pipes and the entire Kaufman Brothers and Bondy’s (KB&B) family. Until recently my favorite pipe has been a four-digit Yello Bole 2062 small Oom Paul. I’ve had this large Oom Paul in the drawer, waiting for restoration, for over a year. (Sorry I forgot to take a before picture).I start this pipe as always by soaking the bowl in the alcohol bath. Here is the pipe right after it came out.Next I reamed the bowl. As you may have noticed this is a rather large bowl, my reamer barely reached the bottom. This also accounts for the reaming damage done to the rim.The pipe has a replacement push stem, which initially caused me to think it was an export model, but looking at the shank you can see the groves that the stinger originally screwed into.I find that the alcohol bath does a nice job of softening any protective coating or wax. In order to remove the rest, I used 0000 steel wool and acetone.Here is what the pipe looked like after removing the finish.My next step was to further clean the insides of the pipe and stem using a retort.The average bowl takes two cotton balls to fill it, three if it’s kind of big. This bowl swallowed four cotton balls. Here is a picture of them after the retort (notice how the boiling alcohol pulled the tar out of the wood).As you may have noticed in previous pictures, the rim on the bowl was in rough shape; scorching, reaming damage, and deep dents. I planned to top the rim and the end of the shank to remove some of the worst damage, but I decided to leave the dimensions as close to original as possible; so I refrained from getting crazy with the sand paper.

I used 150 grit sand paper on a piece of glass to top the rim and shank, followed by some 400 grit. A note of caution when topping an Oom Paul, the shank and the bowl are close to each other. Be sure not to take off wood where you don’t intend to.Once the rim was to my liking I started on the bowl with the 400 grit wet/dry. I sanded around the marking on the shank and kept the stem inserted while working on the end of the shank to prevent rounding. Here is the bowl after the 400 grit.After the 400 grit I turned to a progression of micro-mesh pads (1500-12,000 grit) to polish the wood.I used the same progression on the stem. I polished the stem using a rotary tool set on the lowest speed with white rouge and carnauba wax. I used my buffing wheel (aka heartbreaker) with white rouge and carnauba wax on the bowl. I reassembled the pipe and wiped on a couple of light coats of Halcyon II wax. Here is the finished result. Just to give some perspective on the size of this pipe, here is my four-digit yellow bowl for comparison. Normally I wait to smoke a restored pipe until after taking pictures, but we were without power this morning so I loaded the bowl with some Dunhill Early Morning Pipe and commenced to smoke. The draw is fantastic! After about an hour I thought I must be getting close to the bottom of the bowl so I got my pipe cleaning tool and started to clean the bowl. I had only smoked half the bowl! This the first pipe I’ve encountered that has a basement!

I now have two Oom Paul pipes in my collection. I imagine they will vie for my attention for a very long time.

Breathing New Life into a Gold Star Giant 8597

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Blog by Steve Laug

I have a lot of pipes to work on so making a decision which one to work on it a bit interesting. Several months ago now Steve in Dawson Creek sent me a box of pipes for restoration as allowed. He sent me a list of priorities regarding which pipes he wanted restored in the order of importance to him. So I decided to work on one of the pipes that he sent me for restoration. The next one on his list of priorities was a bulldog that was in pretty rough shape. It is stamped Gold Star on the left side of the shank and Giant on the right side. On the underside of the left side of the diamond shank it is the shape number 8597. I can’t much information about the brand. It is a bit of a mystery pipe but under the grime and the peeling finish there was nice looking grain. The pipe was dirty and the finish was very rough. The varnish coat was peeling away. There was a large chip out of the ring on the right side of the bowl. The rim was darkened and caked under tars. The cake was thick and overflowing the bowl. The stem was oxidized and there were tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem next to the button.I took a close up photo of the rim and the bowl to show you what I was working on in dealing with this pipe. The bowl was a mess. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the bite marks on the top and underside of the stem. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer and a Savinelli Pipe Knife to take the cake back to bare briar on the bowl walls. There was a lot of cake so it took some time. I used the largest cutting head and the cutting head just below that one.I topped the bowl on a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper. I worked the rim against the sandpaper until the damaged bowl top was removed and the bowl was once again smooth and round.I repaired the damaged portion of the ring around the bowl with briar dust and super glue. I mixed the two together and made putty and pressed it into the damaged area of the ring. In the photo below you can see the repaired area on the ring.I used the Dremel and sanding drum to remove the excess patch and sanded it back until it was smooth against the rest of the bowl.I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper until the ring blended in with the rest of the pipe. I used a hack saw blade to recut the grooves on each side of the ring repair. The photo below shows the recut grooves and the repaired ring. It still needs to be cleaned up but it is looking better.I used a knife blade needle file to clean up the grooves. I was able to match the grooves on the rest of the bowl. I sanded the ring with 220 grit sandpaper.I wiped the bowl down with acetone (fingernail polish remover) on cotton pads. I broke up the peeling varnish with sandpaper and wiped it down again.I scraped the inside of the mortise with a dental spatula to remove the hardened tars. It scraped away all of the buildup and then I scrubbed it down with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol until it was clean. I cleaned the airway in the stem until it was clean. I sanded the tooth marks out the top and underside of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper until they were minimized.I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads to smooth out the scratches in the vulcanite.I scrubbed the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation. It took some elbow grease but I was able to remove all of the oxidation with the new product. I am starting to really like this stuff.I polished the stem with the Before & After Pipe Polish using the fine and the extra fine polishing compound. I rubbed it on by hand using a finger and then scrubbed it off with a cotton pad until the polish was gone and the stem shone. I stained the bowl with a medium brown aniline stain and flamed it to set it in the grain. I repeated the process until the stain was evenly spread on the bowl.I buffed the bowl on the buffing wheel to see what the new stain coat looked like. I liked the new look of the old Gold Star Giant. What do you think? I buffed the pipe and stem with Blue Diamond on the wheel to bring a shine to the bowl and gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad and then with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. Steve, this one turned out to be another beauty. I am looking forward to hearing what you think about it once you get it back to Dawson Creek.

A Relatively Easy Refurbishment on a Peterson’s Kinsale

Nice find in Plovdiv, Bulgaria – Denicotea Deluxe Curling Bruyere Extra

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Blog by Dal Stanton

In my last post restoring the Jeantet Fleuron (Link), I mentioned my recent pipe hunting expeditions during our R&R travels in Bulgaria with our daughter and son-in-law visiting from Denver, Colorado. Jordan, my son-in-law, is a blooming pipe man and was my eager accomplice as we dipped in and out of antique shops we found. One of those ‘dips’ unfolded in one of the longest inhabited cities in Europe and the world (since 5000BC!) – Plovdiv, Bulgaria, which enabled me to land the Denicotea Deluxe Curling before me now. Since my field shape identification skills are still in development, when I first saw the pipe in the display case, I thought it was from the Canadian family – the longish shank and the long saddle stem got my attention. Since the antique shop was situated in Old Towne, Plovdiv, in the shadow of the historic Thracian settlement (to the Romans, they were the ‘Barbarians’) the lady with whom I negotiated was pretty tough – I assume because her overhead expenses were more due to her classic location! So the deal we struck was not as good as I was hoping, but with new pipe in hand, I took these initial pictures outside the antique shop with ancient cobblestone as a backdrop. After just finishing the Jeantet Fleuron and my research zeroing in on French pipe making mecca, Saint Claude, I was anxious to start my work on this Denicotea Deluxe Curling, a name also ‘claimed’ by Saint Claude, according to one of my sources in that research. Here’s where the confusion began. The source, a pipe shop of Saint Claude, La Pipe Rit, stated on their home page:

On our website, you will find pipes from Saint Claude made by the most famous brands, such as Eole, Chacom, Bayard, Butz-Choquin, Denicotea, Jeantet and Ropp. The works of Saint Claude’s craftsmen are also present, for example, the unique handmade pipes created by Pierre Morel. You will also discover pipes from all over the world through Vauen, Big Ben, Dunhill, L’anatra, Peterson, Porsche, Savinelli, Stanwell, Viprati and meerschaum pipes as well. (La Pipe Rit)

This blurb led me to the assumption that the name Denicotea was claimed by Saint Claude, but when I started my digging on the Denicotea Curling on Pipedia I found, what many of you already know, Denicotea is a German enterprise. Pipedia says of Denicotea,

Brand founded in 1932 in Cologne, Germany, by Willy Heineberg. Denicotea is actually the name of a silica gel filter, cigarette holders and care products for pipes and cigarette holders. They also introduced the brands Aldo Morelli, Adsorba, Wessex. (Link)

Pipephil confirms this information and adds that pipes were also manufactured by an English third party and marketed under the Denicotea brand. (Link).

So, at this point in my research I’m wondering what the French connection is – assuming that both sources were correct? I dug a lot (learned a lot too!) looking at Pipedia and other sources seeking to confirm another ‘sighting’ of the name Denicotea in Saint Claude but found none. The most plausible hypothesis that I was cultivating was that perhaps Willy Heineberg, who was born actually in Metz, France, had connections with Saint Claude before moving across the Rhine River into Germany (Metz and Cologne are relatively close) to establish the Denicotea operation. I discovered that Willy Heineberg was born a Frenchman (though his surname appears to be of a German-Jewish lineage – see: Link) when I unearthed an interesting letter he wrote on July 31, 1951, to the director of the CIA, General Walter Bedell Smith, seeking help for the rebuilding of a French village raised by the Nazis during WWII – Saint-Die’. Heineberg references in this letter that he was born in Metz, France, nearby Saint-Die’ and therefore wanted to help his compatriots. At the time of writing, his letterhead placed him in NYC on 41 Park Avenue – the tobacco business must have been going well! (See the letter here: Link – in the letter he references at least one other tobacco mogul of RJ Reynolds along with other ‘who’s who’ of his day)

My research on Denicotea pipes was not terribly fruitful – one mostly finds information about their filter and accessory lines of production. Notwithstanding, I’m looking at this Denicotea, not from Saint-Claude, yet very handsome and I’m attracted to the long saddle stem of this classic billiard – my revised shape identification. On the left side of the shank is an arched Denicotea over De Luxe. The right side is Curling over Bruyere Extra. A shape number is pressed on the bottom of the shank which I believe is 118 or possibly 119 – not sure. The saddle stem has a very faint, warn stamped D ensconced in a circle. I hope to bring this fading stamp back from the edge of oblivion with some acrylic paint applied – we’ll see if there’s enough imprint to hold the paint. The bowl is in good shape with some minor nicks and scrapes on the bottom. There is some crusty cake build up in the fire chamber and the rim has some nicks and lava flow on it but it appears minor and in good shape. The stem has significant oxidation but very little tooth chatter to worry about. I take some additional pictures on my work table after returning home to Sofia. I remove the stem and deliver it to the Oxi-clean bath to begin raising the oxidation from the vulcanite stem. When I remove the stem and examine the mortise, I’m not sure what I see. Has the tenon become dislodged from the stem and now unceremoniously implanted in the mortise or does this pipe by design have a vulcanite filter extension coming out of the mortise? I also see what appears to be an old used filter jammed pretty snuggly in the mortise and I cannot remove it with my fingernails. I also try to remove it with tweezers and after scraping at it a bit, I discover that what I thought was an old used filter is metal – I haven’t seen anything like this before. It appears to have an airway slot on the lower portion of the metal ‘insert’. After trying unsuccessfully to pull the metal object out with my fingernails and gently trying to coax it out with my Buck knife, I decide to dip the mortise end in alcohol hopefully to loosen things up. After some careful prying so as to not damage the vulcanite ‘tenon’ in the mortise, what emerged was not anything I was expecting. I have no idea what kind of internal stinger contraption I’m looking at. After I clean it up the only thing I can think of is some clever internal stinger system that Denicotea came up with seeking that ever elusive cooler, dryer smoking experience. I’m still not sure if the tenon has dislodged from the stem and is stuck in the mortise or if what I’m looking at is by design. Taking my questions back to the internet, it didn’t take long to figure things out. Pipephil’s entry for Denicotea (Link) has a picture showing a shape almost identical to the Curling and the mortise has the same vulcanite insert. When I Googled for images, I saw other Curling styles with the same design. With one particular entry from eBay, the metal insert I dislodged looks very familiar to the object in the Denicotea advertisement pictured below – it appears to be part of a filtration system which wedges up against an elongated filter of sorts that fits in the broad/long stem. The very next thought that came to mind was that I hadn’t thought to look into the stem for a filter before dropping it into the Oxy-clean bath! I’m not sure what I will do with the insert, but it does appear to serve as an air restrictor that would be helpful for use without a filter. Any feedback on this would be appreciated! With the object removed, I take my new Savinelli pipe knife to ream the bowl on my 10^th floor balcony ‘Man Cave’. This is where I’m able to smoke my pipes (door sealed) with my wife’s blessings. With it being a beautiful fall day in Bulgaria, I’m happy to work there. I can see why Steve enjoys using his Savinelli pipe knife – it takes the cake off very well and allows for a more delicate and selective approach when needed. After reaming, I use 240 grit paper and clean and smooth the chamber walls further. I like to work on clean pipes so I take pipe cleaners and Q-tips dipped in isopropyl 95% and go to work on the internals of the stummel. After several Q-tips the mortise was not coming clean. With Q-tips I detect an internal ridge inside the mortise created by the vulcanite inserted to the mortise. I’m thinking that this design is a natural gunk collector which makes cleaning more of an on-going challenge. I decide to hold off on more Q-tips and try the salt and alcohol technique I’ve read in other blogs (See at DadsPipes). I use ‘all natural’ non-iodized Himalayan salt that I can find on the store shelves in Bulgaria. Why non-iodized? I asked Charles Lemon at DadsPipes, why he used kosher salt? His reply was that it was not ionized – that the ionization could leave an iodine taste when smoking the pipe. I twist an unraveled cotton ball into the mortise to plug up that end. I stabilize the stummel on the pipe stand and fill the bowl with salt. Then I carefully add alcohol 95% to the bowl until I see it emerge at the top layer of salt. It’s getting late so I let it soak overnight. While the salt and alcohol does its thing, I fish the saddle stem out of the Oxy-clean bath. My first instinct is to look down the throat of the stem to see if a long Denicotea stem filter is lying in wait. To my chagrin, it is. I take pictures to commemorate my discovery and then begin to wet sand the stem’s oxidation with 60 grit paper then with 000 steel wool. I’m careful to avoid the stamped ‘D’ area of the stem, but when I look at the area of the D stamp my concern grows because it looks like the Oxi-clean bath itself caused some further deterioration. I now realize that I should have covered the area with Vaseline to protect it…. learning one mistake at a time…. The oxidation on the stem has been minimized and I take pictures to show the progress. Turning to the lodged stem filter, I use a dental probe to pull up on the filter while pushing from the button end with a pipe cleaner. The surgery is successful and what looks like a charcoal filter emerges from the long saddle stem. An economic theory starts forming in my mind about Denicotea pipes – could they be designed, produced and exist primarily for the filters Denicotea produces? It makes economic sense. A pipe is sold once and its profit is finite. While filters made for that pipe are a continuous revenue stream. Could my theory hold water? With stem free of old filters, I clean the airway up with Q-tips and pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl 95%. After using a few Q-tips I simply rolled large cotton ball pieces to clean the inside of the large stem using tweezers. It did not take long. The next day I dump the salt out of the bowl and wipe out the bowl with a paper towel to remove any left-over salt residue. I returned to the Q-tip therapy to find out if the salt/alcohol soak had an impact on the gunk in the shank. I discover residue so I expend several more Q-tips but finally get to the bottom of the gunk build-up in the shank and turn to the external bowl clean up. To clean up the lava flow on the rim and the bowl surface I use Murphy Oil Soap undiluted with a cotton pad. After the Murphy Oil Soap scrub I rinse the stummel with cool tap water careful not to allow water into the mortise or bowl. The rim and bowl cleaned up nicely allowing me to see more clearly the wood and problem areas. The rim has a burn mark just over the shank junction. It looks like the previous owner drew the flame over the back side of the rim when lighting the tobacco. I used a brass brush, which will not scratch the briar, with alcohol on that spot to see if it would remove the burn but it did not. As I work on the burn, I see that it has burned ‘into’ the rim as well and because of this the inner bowl rim is slightly out of round – I need to correct this. The stummel is showing attractive fire grain and some birds eye – I like the potential. With a close inspection of the finish, I detect some blotches and what I call ‘candy apple shine’ spots. The finish is worn. I decide to remove it to get down to the bare briar. I use cotton pads with acetone to do the job. After removing the finish, I cut a slight bevel on the inner rim to regain round and remove the burn damage. I use 120 grit paper rolled up tightly for the initial bevel followed by 240 then 600 to smooth it. I take pictures to show the progress, and yes, the picture below is ‘Acetone’ in Cyrillic! To remove the light nicks and cuts on the stummel I use a medium grade sanding sponge and follow with a fine grade sanding sponge. I then take a cotton pad with alcohol and wipe down the stummel to clean it from the sponge sanding residue. I do this to take a closer look at the surface for fills or blemishes that need attention before I move on to the micro-mesh sanding. I do find some pitting on the surface that I address with sanding sponges directly. I rejoin stummel and stem to assess the progress. After taking a close up look at the stem after purging the oxidation with an Oxi-clean bath and sanding, I see no teeth chatter that needs to be addressed. I also take another look at the Denicotea circle-D stamp on the stem to see if it can be salvaged. Unfortunately, only the right portion of the circle is barely viable along with a very faint D. Applying acrylic paint would only highlight the fact that it’s not all there, so I decide to finish the stem trying to salvage the remnant stamp as is. Using micro-mesh pads 1500-2400, I wet sand the stem attached to the stummel and follow by applying Obsidian Oil. With pads 3200 to 4000, then 6000 to 12000, I dry sand the stem and apply Obsidian Oil after each set of 3. I never tire watching the shine make an appearance during the micromesh process! I take pictures to show the progress and set the stem aside to dry. Turning to the bowl, I begin preparing the surface finish by wet sanding using micromesh pads 1500 to 2400 followed by dry sanding with micromesh pads 3200-4000 and 6000-12000. I’m liking very much the briar’s grain movement on this bowl. I document the progress at each step. I started this restoration with the idea of experimenting with a staining technique I read in one of Steve’s restores – I’m not sure which one as I’ve read so many! He used a black dye followed by a rub down with alcohol. The purpose was to set the dark hue in the veins of the grain and then lighten the backdrop briar – Steve didn’t describe it quite like this but this is what recorded in my memory! He then followed with another die hue to cast the contrast. I would like to try the same by first setting the dark hue with a dark walnut Italian aniline stain I found here. I will follow this with a new arrival with my daughter and son-in-law from the States, Fiebing’s Oxblood Leather Dye. I’m looking for the rich, deep reddish, burgundy hues in the briar that hopefully is subtle – I like this classic look even though it would be a total change in the color scheme of this Denicotea billiard, I hope it will dress it up nicely. I give the stummel a quick wipe down with a cotton pad and alcohol to rid the surface of any possible residue leftover from the micromesh sanding. I mount the inverted corked stummel on the candle stick holder and decide to try another technique I read recently from one of Steve’s postings of warming the briar first before applying the stain. I do this with an air gun then, after putting on throw-away poly vinyl gloves, with a cotton dauber I apply the dark walnut dye generously to the inverted bottom and allow the die to saturate the stummel. I pick up the candle stick and rotate the stummel and make sure I daub die into the inverted rim. After the surface is adequately covered I ‘flame’ the surface by lighting the wet dye with a butane lighter. The alcohol in the die burns off very quickly to set the hue in the briar. I follow by wiping the stummel surface with alcohol and cotton pads to lighten and blend the initial dark walnut stain. I repeat the process with Fiebing’s Oxblood Leather Dye diluted about ¼ with alcohol. I complete the second application by flaming the dye which sets the oxblood over the dark walnut hue in the briar. After taking pictures to show progress, I put the stummel aside allowing the stain to rest overnight. I look forward to seeing how my experiment turns out when I return to the project tomorrow! I really enjoy witnessing the initial revelation of the briar surface after the staining process. This pipe was no exception. I take my compact Dremel tool (a wonderful friend when workshop space in not available!) with a felt wheel and apply Tripoli to the final flamed Oxblood surface I completed the night before. I use the lowest speed and do not apply a great deal of pressure to the felt wheel as I consistently move it over the stummel surface. I allow the speed of the wheel and the compound to do the work. The briar is emerging as I buff with the Tripoli. I love the mosaic of grain design that emerges as I work over the stummel surface. I follow the Tripoli compound with Blue Diamond, also using a felt wheel with the Dremel speed set to the lowest RPM. After completing the Blue Diamond, I attach a cotton cloth wheel to the Dremel and increase the speed by one number and apply several applications of carnauba wax to both stummel and the rejoined saddle stem. Through trial and error, I’ve been able to develop a technique for applying the compounds and carnauba wax that works well for me – in my compact 10^th floor work station. Under a bright light, with the sheen of the stummel surface my focus, I am able to see the application of the compound and how it disburses over the briar with the different wheels. I am able to identify compound or wax that hasn’t integrated into the surface – it appears as a thick ripple, and I’m able to revisit it with the wheel rotation to work in more thoroughly what has been ‘left-behind’. This works especially well with the carnauba wax which disburses with the heat of the wheel’s rotation. I can see the wax liquefy and am able to spread it over a portion of the surface. After applying several applications of carnauba wax, I Dremel buff the entire stem and stummel surface with a clean cotton wheel and complete the process with a rigorous hand-buff with a clean microfiber cloth to raise the shine more.

I am thoroughly pleased with the rich, deep hues the stains contributed to the beautiful briar grain of this Denicotea DeLuxe Curling Bruyere Extra. I’m not sure the pictures below capture the depth of grain that I can appreciate with the naked eye. The color and the shape bring to mind what could be a pleasing match for a classic smoking jacket one might see donned by the Earl of Grantham, Robert Crawley, as he retires to the smoking room at Downton Abbey. ‘Classic’ is the one word that keeps coming to mind about this pipe! One question that remains for me is what to do with the internals of the filtration system – any thoughts on that would be appreciated. As I shared with my last post, my wife has lovingly put her foot down! This pipe will reluctantly head to eBay or, if you have an interest in adding this classic shape to your collection, let me know. Thanks for joining me!

A Heibe Filter Bruyere Extra 1132 Churchwarden Made in West Germany

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Blog by Steve Laug

Looking at the stamping on this older churchwarden pipe I can distinguish HEI__ on the left side of the shank over FILTER. From what I can see looking at it under a bright light with a lens it looks to me like the stamping is HEIBE. On the right side of the shank it is stamped Bruyere over Extra. On the underside of the shank it is stamped Made in West Germany followed by the number 1132. The pipe is 10 ½ inches long and the bowl is 2 inches tall. The diameter of the chamber is 5/8 inches. The finish was in decent shape with some scratching and the pipe is dirty. The rim was damaged and the bowl had a burn mark on the inside edge of the inner rim. The bowl was out of round and the top of the bowl was also damaged. The stem was oxidized and the pipe smelled foul. The next series of photos with the granite/marble counter top were taken by the eBay seller and show the overall state of the pipe.According to Pipedia, Heibe pipes were made by the company of the same name, owned in turn by Erich Heikaus, KG, in Bergneustadt, Germany. The trademark for the Heibe name was first filed on March 9, 1966 and registered on January 14, 1967. The sole trademarked line name of Heibe is the Heibe Goldpoint, which was applied for in 1970 and granted on May 31, 1972. Pipes have been seen stamped both “Germany” and “West Germany”, showing that the Heibe Company continued to make pipes after 1990, but these pipes appear to no longer be in production. https://pipedia.org/wiki/Heibe The next photos are close ups of the pipe. They show the condition of the rim and the grain around the sides of the bowl. My brother reamed the bowl cleaned up and scrubbed the exterior of the bowl and stem. He took some photos of the pipe after he cleaned it. The next photos show the stamping on the pipe. The first one shows the underside of the shank with the shape number and West Germany. The left side shows the brand over the word Filter. The right side shows the name Bruyere Extra. The next two photos show the beautiful grain on this pipe. The spots and streak on the second photo were just grime on the pipe. When I received it those were gone. The next photo shows the damage to the rim top. There outer edge shows damage and the inner edge bevel is rough and looks like it did not belong originally. There is clearly a burn mark at the back side of the inner rim. There are a lot of dings and dents on the rim edge.When the pipe arrived in Vancouver I took the next four photos to show what it looked like before I started on it. My brother did a great job cleaning up the surface of the bowl. He was able to scrub off the finish and the grain just pops. The next photo shows the rim after my brother cleaned it up. The dents and dings on the out edge are visible. The burn mark at the back of the inner rim is very clear. It is not deep but it is present. The bowl will need to be topped.I topped the bowl on the topping board with 220 grit sandpaper. It took some time to remove the inner rim damage. I sanded and checked constantly to make sure I did not sand too far. The second photo shows the topped bowl and the cleaned rim edge.I sanded the inside of the bowl with the rolled sandpaper to smooth out the inner edge of the bowl. The second photo below shows the fresh edge of the bowl.I sanded the rim top with 1500-4000 grit micromesh sanding disks until the scratches were gone. I restained the rim with a dark brown stain pen to blend it into the colour of the bowl. I cleaned out the mortise and airway in the shank with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and alcohol. It appears that the bowl was dip stained as the cotton swabs came out with a red stain and no tars or oils. I cleaned the stem with pipe cleaners with and alcohol.I used my new micromesh sanding pads on the stem and it made short work of removing the oxidation. I forget how quickly new micromesh pads remove oxidation and polish the vulcanite. I sanded it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each set of three pads. I set the stem aside to dry after the last rub down. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to polish the scratches. It always amazes me how much different the pipe looks after buffing. I buffed it with several coats of carnauba wax to protect the vulcanite and bowl. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine and then by hand with a microfibre cloth to add depth. The photos below show the new restored German Churchwarden. It is a beauty. Thanks for looking.

A Bleak Looking Royal Danish with an indistinguishable shape number

Another nice find at the ‘Hole in the Wall’ – Jeantet Fleuron 70-7

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Blog by Dal Stanton

The Jeantet Fleuron before me was mentioned when I posted the restoration of a beautiful BBB Banker Bent Volcano. I found both pipes last April, during a visit to ‘The Hole in the Wall’ antique store near the Zhenski Pazar (Women’s Market) in downtown Sofia, Bulgaria. In order to achieve a better bargain for the BBB Banker I grabbed the Jeantet out of the basket as a good candidate for a bundled deal, which helped me negotiate 30 Bulgarian Leva for the pair – not a bad deal! When I arrived home from the Hole in the Wall I took these pictures: The bent egg shape is in pretty good condition with an attractive elongated bowl that fits well in the hand. The left side of the shank is marked with Jeantet (pronounced, ‘Zhawn-Te’) over Fleuron and on the right what I assume is the shape number 70-7. The stem has the nice Jeantet J stamp. Looking at Pipedia to do a little research on this name led me to Sainte Claude, France, considered to be the birthplace of the serious production of briar pipes and scores of French made pipe names claim Saint Claude as home. My curiosity piqued, I wanted to know why St. Claude, France? Was the briar in good supply there? I looked to the history of the city itself to see what I could find. I unearthed an archived New York Times article written March 20, 1983, in the ‘Shoppers World’ travel section entitled, THE PIPE CAPITAL OF FRANCE – very interesting and worth reading. I found the answer to the question, ‘Why Saint Claude and pipes?’ with this article I found posted on Fumerchic.com with these informative excerpts:

In the 15th Century, Saint-Claude was canonised by Pope Louis XI, the city took on the name Saint-Claude alone and remained a favoured site for pilgrims.

Since Saint-Claude was one of the stops on the Way of Saint James, the monks, who had been turning wood since the 7th century, began crafting wooden religious objects like crucifixes and rosaries. These monks slowly began training craftsmen, which lead to the establishment of the first wood turning workshop in Saint-Claude.

The craftsmen developed the manufacture of wooden items and widened the scope of their operation by making toys (spinning tops, whistles and rattles), so children and pilgrims could play during their pilgrimages. The number of turning workshops then grew. The main materials they used were wood, bone and ivory.

But with the introduction of tobacco to France, of smoking tobacco in particular, the wood turning workshops adapted by making snuff boxes and pipes made from local boxwood. The pipe craftsmen of Saint-Claude gradually forged themselves a reputation for an unparalleled level of manual skill and expertise.

So, it wasn’t the plentiful supply of briar that put Sainte Claude on the pipe-makers’ map but industrious wood-turning monks who passed their wood working skills on to local craftsman. The story went on with the discovery of a non-burning pipe made from our beloved briar:

During the 19th Century, pipes from Saint-Claude underwent a profound change. Boxwood had been the wood used to make the pipes until then, but it produced a bitter taste when smoked. Around 1855, a businessman passing through Saint-Claude presented a Saint-Claude wood turner with a pipe, the bowl of which did not burn, carved from a heavy wood in dark shades. It was the first pipe made from briar. The arborescent briar pipe is highly resistant to heat and fire, giving the smoker the greatest possible pleasure from the plumes of tobacco smoke. The craftsmen of Saint-Claude therefore began using briar instead of boxwood, ensuring the Saint-Claude pipe caused excitement in the pipe smoking community. The number of workshops grew, with names like Chacom and Butz-Choquin appearing for the first time, while the craftsmen began producing more and more high-quality pipes thanks to their expertise that became globally renowned among pipe smokers.

Considered to be the capital of briar wood pipes, Eole, Chacom, Bayard,Butz-Choquin, Denicotea, Jeantet and Ropp are well-known names all originally claimed by Saint Claude, France. The works of Saint Claude’s craftsmen are also present, for example, in the unique handmade pipes created by Pierre Morel (link).

One more factoid about Saint Claude’s history caught my attention. In 1966, Saint Claude established the Confrérie des Maîtres-Pipiers de Saint-Claude (The Brotherhood of Master Pipe-Makers in Saint-Claude) to promote the expertise of the many masters that have historically resided and worked in Saint Claude. Famous personalities are inducted as the “Premier Pipe-Smoker of the Year’ to serve as ambassadors for the pipe industry in Saint Claude. For every personality chosen, Paul Lanier (awarded the prestigious meilleur ouvrier de France title in 1991), crafts a pipe that includes a portrait of the inductee, thus perpetuating the tradition of the sculpted briar pipe. I think this is a very cool tradition and found it very interesting that the first likeness below strongly resembles the master pipe restorer who oversees Rebornpipes.com!According to Pipedia, the Jeantet name came on to the scene in 1775. The 1800s saw great expansion of production of Jeantet pipes primarily through the development of local cottage industry – farming out different aspects of the pipe production to small shops in Saint Claude. Consolidated production grew in the 1900s but in the 1960s sales dwindled in spite of attempts to modernize. This final part of my research comes from Pipehill:

1988
The company was taken over by S.A. Cuty Fort Entreprises⁽¹⁾ while keeping its label. It established in the group beside Chapuis-Comoy (Chacom), Jean Lacroix and Emile Vuillard. Today (2010) the brand isn’t part of the group any more. The label owned by Dominique Jeantet still exists but pipe production is discontinued.When I take this product of Sainte Claude, France, the Jeantet Fleuron, out of the ‘Rescue Me’ basket, I take a closer and more appreciative look at the pipe. First impressions mark the nice shape of the stummel – I like the tapered egg shape that culminates in a tightly circled rim beveled on the inner chamber side. The bowl shows minor cake and appears to have been cleaned before but I will bring it down to the briar and clean it well. The stummel surface has minor dents and ‘blemishes’ on the finish. A significant ‘scab’ is evident where the shank and bowl converge on the topside. It doesn’t appear to be a burn through but this will need attention after cleaning the exterior surface. The rim has minor dent marks on the blade edge of the beveled rim. When I take off the stem, I notice that in the mortise is a metal cylinder – some sort of a metal airway or a stinger that got loose? With a few thumps on my palm, the rogue stinger shakes loose (pictured below). After attempting to insert it into the end of the tenon, I have questions as to whether this stinger is original – the fit is very loose which explains why it slipped down into the stummel airway. I decide the stinger is history and it goes in the spare parts bucket. Minor teeth dents are on the underside of the bit. I take some close up shots for a better look at problem areas. I begin by putting the stem in an OxiClean bath to soak in order to raise the oxidation out of the vulcanite. Then I take my Pipnet Reaming Kit and work on the light cake build up in the bowl. I use the two smaller blades of the four blades available to me to ream the bowl. After this I use 240 grit sanding paper to further clean and smooth the chamber wall. I like working on a clean pipe so I take pipe cleaners and Q-tips dipped in isopropyl 95% and work the mortise and stummel airway. The internals were surprisingly clean so it didn’t take long.

Now to the external surface. I use undiluted Murphy Oil Soap on the stummel with cotton pads to remove the grime and hopefully to eradicate some of the blemishes I detect on the surface. After cleaning with Murphy Soap I rinse the stummel with cool tap water avoiding water entering the fire chamber or mortise. The ‘scab’ at the upper junction of the shank and bowl is starting to look like a botched superglue repair job. I’ll need to give some thought as to how to address this eyesore on an otherwise attractive piece of briar – I’m starting to see the briar’s potential. The pictures show the progress. I put the stummel aside and turn to the clean-up of the stem. I fish the stem out of the Oxyclean bath. It did the job of ‘surfacing’ the dull greenish oxidation and I initially attack it with 000 steel wool. I then clean the internal airway with bristled and smooth pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl 95%. The stem put up more resistance than the stummel. After several pipe cleaners I’m satisfied that the airway is ready for service. Next, the ‘scab’ on the bowl surface. I take 240 grit sanding paper rolled as close to a blade as I could make it and sanded the gummed up super glue patch – at least I believe that is what it is – at the junction between the upper shank and bowl. I sand the super glue or epoxy down to the surface. When I remove the buildup bump it appears to be a patch – I don’t believe it’s a burn through, but it’s definitely a fill. It appears to be solid so I leave it as is and hope to blend it when I finish the stummel. Next I prepare a batch of briar dust super glue putty to fill in two holes just below the rim at about 1 o’clock (picture below). I use a toothpick as a trowel to pack the holes well and to leave an overflow so that it will sand out smoothly with the surface. The final repair is to apply black super glue to two small tooth dents on the underside of the bit. When cured, it will sand smooth and polish well. The pictures show the progress of the patch work. After the KE-150 Black super glue patch on the underside of the bit cures, I take 240 grit sanding paper to smooth out the patch bumps bringing them down to the stem surface level. I do the same to remove light tooth chatter on the upper side. To redefine the button, I use the needle file to shape the contours of the button lip top and bottom. I again use 240 grit to remove the file marks and remove light tooth chatter. With micromesh pads grit from 1500 to 2400 I wet sand the stem and apply Obsidian Oil. Unfortunately, after admiring the shine beginning to move to the surface, I also saw some small ‘patches’ of oxidation remained visible – a bit near the button and on both upper and lower parts of the saddle stem that tapers from shank level down to button level. If this part of the saddle stem has a special name, I’m not sure what it is! I was frustrated and therefore forgot to picture this! I put the stem back in the Oxyclean bath for another baptism. The pictures below represent the micromesh process after the second bath, which raised the residue oxidation to the surface and I remove it beginning with the 1500 grit micromesh pad. Following the 1500 to 2400 micromesh wet sand cycle (again!) I apply Obsidian Oil. With pads from 3200 to 4000 grit I dry sand and follow again with applying Obsidian Oil to the stem. I complete the micromesh polishing with pads 6000 to 12000, apply Obsidian Oil and put the stem aside to dry. I’m pleased with the results even though I had a detour. The pictures show the progress on the stem repairs and polishing. With the stem ready for a stummel, I start working on completing the Jeantet’s re-commissioning by using 240 grit sanding paper to remove the cured briar dust super glue putty patch on the holes just below the rim. I’m careful to sand strategically by folding the paper and using it like a blade directly on the patch so I don’t unintentionally sand into the rim’s sharp beveled top edge – that would not be good to deface the rim! I take a before and after picture to show the progress. The rim already has a very nice bevel, but to remove the dents and pitting on the rim I use 240 grit paper folded and work on the rim. I pinch the paper with my thumb on the beveled contour as I rotate the stummel. I find that this method allows for an even movement and a consistent bevel angle to develop. With the bevel already in place, I simply go with the contour that is already present but remove the damage producing a fresh beveled surface. Well, all work on the Jeantet came to a halt for about 3 weeks as my wife and I enjoyed our annual R&R on the Black Sea coast near the fishing town of Sozopol. Reading books and enjoying the beach is one of our favorite things to do to relax and decompress from the work we do in Bulgaria. A special joy to us during these weeks was the visit of our daughter and her husband from Denver, Colorado. They joined us at the Black Sea for our last few days on the beach and from there we took them to see different sights in Bulgaria as well as spending the last week of their visit on the beautiful Greek island of Santorini! Another great part about their visit was that they brought supplies and pipes I had ordered and purchased from eBay. They also brought another prize – the Savinelli pipe knife to add to my tool box that I won in a fierce bid on eBay! During this time of R&R I also visited several antique shops in different Bulgarian towns and secured some future restorations – it was a good time but now, back to life and the Jeantet Fleuron!

With stem reattached to the stummel I use a medium grade sanding sponge on the bowl. Following this, I utilized all 9 micro-mesh sanding pads, 1500 to 12000 to sand/polish the bowl preparing it for staining. I’m liking the briar grains beginning to make an appearance on the Jeantet. The pictures show the progress on the stummel surface. I’m anxious to try out one of the supply items that my daughter and son in law brought from the US – Fiebing’s Leather Dye. They brought dark brown and oxblood colors and I decide to try the dark brown on the Jeantet. One of the challenges that I have finding supplies in Bulgaria is not having good selection of aniline (alcohol based) dyes or stains that would readily ‘flame’ helping to set the stain in the wood. I remove the stem and give the bowl a cleaning with alcohol with a cotton pad to make sure it is clean from the residue left over from sanding. I set the bowl up on the cork and candle stand, inverted to apply the dark brown dye that I have chosen. Using a cotton dauber, also a new arrival from the US, I apply the dye liberally over the inverted bottom of the bowl allowing the dye to saturate the briar surface. I’m able to rotate the bowl with the cork in hand to make sure dye reaches the rim beveled surface on the bottom. When the surface is covered I flame it with a butane lighter which evaporates the alcohol from the dye and sets the color more deeply in the grain. After it cools to the touch, I repeat the process above a second time, applying dye and flaming. The pictures below show the progress but also the fact that I need to figure out a better way of pouring the dye into the lid so I’m not wasting so much on my work board missing the briar! After cooled, I use cotton pads with isopropyl 95% and wipe down the newly stained bowl to lighten it and even out the dye application. This allows the grain to jump out more it seems to me. I let the bowl sit overnight to thoroughly dry and set the newly stained surface. I turn to my Dremel using a felt wheel with Tripoli compound on the bowl surface and stem to begin the polishing process. I utilize the slowest RPM speed and keep the wheel moving over the briar surface – not pressing too much allowing the wheel and compound to do the work. I follow the Tripoli with Blue Diamond – also with its own dedicated felt wheel (each compound has dedicated wheels) and again, allow the RPMs, wheel and compound to do the work, keeping the movement of the wheel moving on the stummel surface. For the carnauba wax application, I switch from a felt wheel to a cotton cloth wheel and also increase the RPM speed on the Dremel by one number. I have discovered that the carnauba needs a bit more ‘heat’ to spread evenly over the surface. I apply several coats of carnauba wax over the bowl surface and stem. I love to watch how the briar grain increasingly pops with each step of the polishing process. The beauty of the grain on the Jeantet Fleuron is living up to its name – Fleuron. Since I didn’t study French in school, Google translate provided the English meaning of Fleuron – ‘finial’, which is, according to Dictionary.com, “a relatively small, ornamental, terminal feature at the top of a gable, pinnacle, etc.” Or, simply, a nice finishing touch! I complete the Jeantet Fleuron with a clean cotton cloth wheel buff with the Dremel and then a rigorous buffing by hand with a microfiber cloth to bring out the grain even more and deepen the shine.

Since my wife has lovingly started to put her foot down regarding my growing collection of pipes (I’m sure some of you have faced this as well!) this Jeantet Fleuron 70-7 will make a debut on eBay Europe and US to find a good home! I am considering how to sell more restored pipes and giving the profits to help further the work we do here, with the Daughters of Bulgaria – Bulgarian women who are sexually exploited and trafficked. If you’re interested in adding the Jeantet to your collection, leave a comment below. Thanks for joining me!

This BBB Tiger Grain Bulldog was in rough shape

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Blog by Steve Laug

I have always liked older BBB pipes. I used to buy them on eBay when no one was hunting for them for almost nothing. The prices they are today they are generally untouchable for me. Once in a while though one slips under the radar. This Tiger Grain with a Lucite stem was one my brother caught in his ongoing prowl of eBay. He got it for a decent price. It is either a newer BBB or it has a replacement stem on it. My thinking tends toward the previous – a newer pipe from when Cadogan took over the line. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank with BBB in a Diamond and underneath it reads Tiger Grain. The right side of the shank reads London England and the number 4. The next two photos show the condition of the pipe when it arrived in Idaho. The bowl finish on the bowl was dirty and there were rough spots. The rim had burn marks on the outer and inner edges on the front side. The beveled rim was thickly caked with the overflow from the cake in the bowl. The Lucite stem had tooth marks and was covered with sticky debris. The airway in the stem was darkened with tars and oils. The mix of bright yellows, white and greys looked good underneath the grime. The dark black/brown airway stood out like a sore. With the exterior that dirty I could only guess that the inside was also very dirty.My brother once again did the major clean up on this pipe. He reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer and took the cake back to bare briar. He scrubbed the exterior with Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove all of the grime and grit. He was able to scrub away much of the rim build up and the surface of the stem. He scrubbed the internals with pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. When the pipe arrived in Vancouver it was pretty clean. I took the following photos of the pipe before I began to work on it. I took a close up photo of the rim to show the small amount of cake on the rim and the burn marks on the front of the pipe on both the inner and outer edge of the rim. I circled the burned spot with a red circle in the photo below.There was a red tone to the briar. I rubbed it down with a light coat of olive oil and brought out the red. I wanted to see what the bowl and rim looked like when it had been oiled.I sanded the rim and bevel with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to remove the remaining cake and clean up the bevel on the rim. When I finished the rim was clean but it still showed the burn marks and the inner bevel on the rim was also darkened.I decided to top the bowl on the topping board to remove the damaged rim top and the burn marks. I sanded it until the rim top was smooth and the outer edge was clean.I polished the topped bowl with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. When I finished the rim was smooth and polished.I worked on the mortise and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. I used a dental spatula to scrape out the mortise. Once I was finished cleaning it the shank and airway was clean. I also scrubbed out the airway in the stem with pipe cleaners and alcohol. I used bristle pipe cleaners- both thin and thicker to scrub out the tars and dark stains. I sanded out the tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem to remove them and blend them into the surface of the Lucite.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth between each grit of micromesh pads. I buffed the pipe and stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to polish the pipe. I carefully avoided the stamping. I gave the bowl and stem several coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photo below. It is a nice looking pipe. The bowl and rings are in perfect shape. The new rim top looks like it has always been there. Thanks for looking.

A unique old WDC Turin Rustic Volcano

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Blog by Steve Laug

When I saw this one on eBay I sent a message to my brother and asked him to bid on it. He did and we got it. I love the rustication on the Turin Rustic series. It is rough and yet dignified at the same time. The seller billed it as restored/refurbished and clean. By and large that was true. The shank and the inside of the stem were very clean. The rim had been knocked about a bit and the inner edge of the rim was rough and uneven. The bowl had been reamed. The stem was polished though there were deep tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem next to the button. My brother took the above photos and the following ones before he cleaned the pipe. You can see the damage to the rim top and the inner edge in the next photo. The second photo shows the stamping on the left side of the shank.Though I knew a bit about the WDC pipe maker and the William Demuth Company I thought it might be good to review the history before I started restoring the pipe. I googled the Turin Rustic to see what I could find. It immediately referred me to a post on the Kaywoodie Forum that in turn was an excerpt from pipedia.org. Here is the link.

http://kaywoodie.myfreeforum.org/archive/w.d.c.-master-list__o_t__t_191.html

William Demuth, a native of Germany, entered the United States at the age of 16 as a penniless immigrant. After a series of odd jobs he found work as a clerk in the import business of a tobacco tradesman in New York City. In 1862 William established his own company. The William Demuth Company specialized in pipes, smoker’s requisites, cigar-store figures, canes and other carved objects.

The Demuth Company is probably well known for the famous trademark, WDC in an inverted equilateral triangle. William commissioned the figurative meerschaum Presidential series, 29 precision-carved likenesses of John Adams, the second president of the United States (1797-1801) to Herbert Hoover, the 30th president (1929-1933), and “Columbus Landing in America,” a 32-inch-long centennial meerschaum masterpiece that took two years to complete and was exhibited at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.

The Presidential series was the result of Demuth’s friendship with President James A. Garfield, a connoisseur of meerschaum pipes. Demuth presented two pipes to Garfield at his inauguration in 1881, one in his likeness, the other in the likeness of the President’s wife. Later, Demuth arranged for another figurative matching the others to be added to the collection as each new president acceded to the White House, terminating with President Hoover.

In 1897 Ferdinand Feuerbach joined the Demuth Company and by 1903 had become the production manager. Feuerbach is credited with developing Demuth’s popular Royal Demuth and Hesson Guard Milano pipelines. He left in 1919, when Sam Frank Sr. needed an experienced pipe man to run his pipe factory, located at 168 Southern Blvd., in the Bronx. Feuerbach and Frank had been close friends since Frank started his own business in 1900 and was closely associated with the sales staff of WDC, selling their line of pipes.

In early 1937, the City of New York notified S.M. Frank & Co. of their intent to take by eminent domain, part of the land on which the companies pipe factory was located. This was being done to widen two of the adjacent streets. As a result of this, Frank entered into negotiations to purchase the Wm. Demuth Co.’s pipe factory in the Richmond Hill section of Queens. It was agreed upon that Demuth would become a subsidiary of S.M. Frank and all pipe production of the two companies would be moved to Demuth factory. New Corporate offices were located at 133 Fifth Avenue, NYC.

Demuth pipes continued to be made at the Richmond Hill plant till December 31. 1972. Then the Wm. Demuth Company met its official end as a subsidiary company by liquidation. Demuth’s mainstay pipe, the Wellington continued to be offered in the S.M. Frank catalog until 1976. In the mid-80’s, the Wellington even made a brief return as a direct to the consumer offer.

When the pipe arrived from Idaho it was quite clean and ready to work on. I took some photos of it before I started. The next photo shows the rim and the damage to the surface. There were a lot of dents and dings as well as some roughness on the right side toward the front of the bowl. The inner edges was also worn and rough.The next photos show the condition of the stem – it had some deep tooth marks on the top and underside that are visible in the photo below.I “painted” the surface of the vulcanite with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift the dents and I was able to raise all but one of them completely. Even the worst one on the underside came up so that is only needed a little patch. The rest of them I was able to sand smooth with 220 grit sandpaper.I cleaned the sanded area on the underside of the stem with alcohol and then filled in the remaining tooth mark with a spot of clear super glue. Once it dried I sanded it smooth with 220 grit sandpaper and blended it into the surface of the stem.I rolled a piece of sandpaper and sanded out the inside of the bowl and the inner edge of the rim to smooth out the damage.

I touched up the rough spots on the inner edge with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper and smoothed out the edge until it was back in round. In the photo below you can see the damage to the top and outside edge of the bowl toward the front. It looked like it had been knocked out on concrete.I decided to lightly top the bowl on the topping board with 220 grit sandpaper until the rim top was smooth and clean of damage.I sanded the rim top with micromesh sanding pads from 1500-12000 grit until the surface of the rim was clean and smoothly polished.I used a light brown stain pen and touched up the rim top. The next four pictures show the bowl after I had rubbed it down with a light coat of olive oil. I love the rustication on the bowl sides and bottom. It really is a unique pattern. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each set of three pads. After the final rub down I set the stem aside to dry.

I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand wax the bowl with Conservator’s Wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The finish shines and the pipe belies its age. It is a beauty. Thanks for looking.